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Delhiwale: This is the road from Dilli Gate to Qabristan | Latest News Delhi
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Delhiwale: This is the road from Dilli Gate to Qabristan | Latest News Delhi

08 November 2024 22:46 IST

In Old Delhi, a funeral procession halts traffic as it carries the body to a cemetery rich in history, home to important people and well-kept graves.

One morning in Old Delhi, a funeral procession halts the rush-hour flow of cars in front of Delite Cinema. The funeral bearers are carrying the corpse towards the Dilli Gate Cemetery.

In the middle of a pile of graves, a smelly cat is busy plundering a bowl of milk. (HT photo)
In the middle of a pile of graves, a smelly cat is busy plundering a bowl of milk. (HT photo)

The cemetery behind the newspaper offices on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg serves as the final destination for thousands of Muslim residents of Purani Dilli. Just as the machinery warehouses are dense in Meena Bazar, the graves are also dense. Located just outside the vanishing walls of the Walled City, the tomb houses some of Old Delhi’s most contemporary elite. Urdu poet Mushir Jhinjhianvi, who lived in a house overlooking Chitli Qabar Chowk, lies buried somewhere in the middle of this sprawl. So did Yunus Jaffery of the great Persian scholar Ganges Mir Khan. So is legendary chef Kallu Nihariwale, who lives near Unchi Masjid at Turkman Gate but runs his famous stall at Chatta Lal Mian. The inscription on the tombstone of Haji Mian Fayyazuddin, a respected figure who died in the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak in Old Delhi, identifies him as the long-time secretary of the same cemetery. His brother, poet Aamir Dehlavi, who always plays old Hindi movie songs on his radio during his post-lunch siesta, lies next to him.

There is a walled “ahata” in the cemetery for “stillborn babies”. This afternoon, a man approaches the enclosure, cradling a small, bright white sheet. A gravedigger unlocks ahata. The metal door creaks open. There are no graves inside, just plain raw earth.

A painted board nearby states that “anyone wishing to add plaster to their relative’s grave may meet with the cemetery secretary sahib between 9.30am and 11am.” Indeed, unlike many other cemeteries, the graves here are very well-kept. Almost every tombstone is marked with the name of the person who lived in it and the name of the strip of Old Delhi where he lived. Nasreen Begum from Chandni Mahal, Rabia Begum from Katra Sheikh Chand, Hajjan Allahrakkhi from Gali Wazir Beg, Muhammad Aslam from Gali Elaichi Wali, Farida Begum from Phatak Teliyan, Khurshid Begum from Gali Bhistiyan Wali, Rehmatullah Hotel Marium Kureshi, Muhammad Tavi Gali Gudariya, Waheedan of Gali Begum Meer Madari, Shazia of Chatta Lal Miyan, Hashmati Begum of Katra Qazi, Judge Sardar Ali of Kucha Chelan… all these people used to walk along Purani Dilli gallis and kuchas. “As you are now, so were we once” – the graves collectively seem to tell us about the living.

A few feet away, in the middle of a pile of graves, a smelly cat is busy plundering a bowl of milk.

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